L&DH: Okay, so here's a revised version of the chapter I uploaded yesterday.
Tegan: Wow. Hey, Salem, check outside! I think the Acopalypse is coming! Light revised a chapter that she already posted!
Salem: I thought you weren't ever going to do that?
L&DH: Well, I wasn't really liking what I uploaded. That never really happens, so I think I just jumped the gun a little. Either way, I'm much happier with this so...On to the show!
Tegan: *rolls eyes* Light doesn't own Kingdom Hearts of Fairy Tail. If she did, she'd really be rolling in the dough instead of making smoothies eight hours a day.
Salem: Read, review, and enjoy!
Most forests were peaceful places. Quite and peaceful. Not the case, however, for the Warth woods.
"What are you idiots doing?! Get them!"
"Dark Firaga!"
A small cluster of wizards were swept off their feet after Vanitas lobbed a ball of black fire at the ground in front of them. The spell exploded with a fiery bang and showered everything within range with the searing flames. The enemies didn't stay up in the air for long. Salem and Gray made sure of it with a few well placed ice attacks. And when a few stragglers tried to get back up, Vanitas took them out for good with Strike Raid.
"Anyone want to explain to me why we're wasting our time with these punks?!" Vanitas grumbled as he swung Void Gear into the stomach of yet another wizard.
"Vanitas!" Ventus appeared by his side. "Watch out!"
Before he could react to the ghostly teen's shout, something pressed down on Vanitas' shoulder, bending his back. Tegan, using him as an improve springboard, vaulted over the black-haired teen. With her speed enhanced by a spell, she smashed her foot directly into the jaw of another member of the wizard guild who tried to sneak up behind them. The wizard flew back, globs of blood exploding from a fractured jaw.
The girl landed lightly on her feet and sunk back into a fighting pose. "Pay attention, Van. I can't come to the rescue all the time!"
Vanitas took notice of the slight change in Tegan's demeanor. She was more focused and less…Energetic? Hyper? She didn't seem herself as she fought with the other wizards. Her behavior struck him as closer to Isa's stoic, hyper-focused and serious temperament. Whatever it was, it was a little odd. It didn't seem like her.
He remembered Tegan saying once before that she used to get into fights a lot back in her world. Her current fighting style, some form of street fighting and boxing, showed how comfortable she was fighting without a weapon as she made mincemeat of anyone who got in her way. Maybe this was just how she acted in those fights. It wasn't surprising that some people got into different mindsets when they got into a fight.
"I don't need you to 'come to the rescue'!" he snapped hotly. "Just let me go all out against these losers!"
"We can't do that, Vanitas," she fired back quickly. "These people are still humans! Just kick their butts and knock 'em out so they can't hurt any of the others later!"
And with that, she went back to fighting. Peeved over the whole situation, Vanitas turned his attention back to his own battle. Even if he couldn't go all out on these chumps, there were still plenty of them for him to take his anger out on. Considering everything that happened since they came to this world, he needed something to let loose steam.
After getting their asses kicked by the Organization and the Oracion Seis, the decision to track them down was completely unanimous. They had to be found, for multiple reasons. Not only had their defeat been humiliating (at least, it was extremely humiliating for Vanitas), but two members of the Wizard Coalition and one of the Guardians of Light had been kidnapped. And to top it all off, a member of both factions were poisoned. So it was decided that the Coalition would split up into groups—with each guild forming their own team—and comb through the woods until somebody found the Oracion Seis base. Since Vanitas, Tegan, and Salem had no idea where they were going, they tagged along with Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster, two Fairy Tail wizards, and the talking cat from Cait Shelter.
Trudging along, had the group ventured deep into the woods in pursuit of their target, scaling giant trees and rocks along the way. In terms of aggravating enemies to encounter, Vanitas had been expecting the Nobodies and Dream Eaters. Kind of a no brainer, given the fact that Isa and Dante were running loose around the woodlands. What he didn't see coming was an unexpected ambush in the form of another Dark wizard guild called "Naked Mummy". Apparently, the Oracion Seis had a lot of other illegal wizard guilds under their thumb, and they'd sent the canon fodder out into the woods to try and clear house. This guild in particular was a huge group of wizards.
Vanitas and his gang were easily outnumbered, especially since the only magic Carla knew was a non-combative flight spell. However, numbers didn't necessarily translate to skill.
Luckily for us, these chumps are complete morons…It's pathetic!
It was a total joke. Naked Mummy was more like a gang of thugs. All talk and barely any substance. They were so far under Vanitas' level of skill that it was more of a waste of energy trying not to completely annihilate them. It totally infuriated him.
Because they were humans, Vanitas wouldn't be able to use his Keyblade to destroy them the way he did with creature like Heartless or Nobodies. The others didn't seem to be bothered by that fact, but it was really pissing Vanitas off. Salem was using his knives and needles to incapacitate the other wizards. Tegan was using Enhancement spells to fight with her hands and feet, rather than using her halberd. Even Natsu and Gray were blowing away enemies using their Dragon Slayer and Ice magics without complaint.
But Vanitas felt like he was holding back. He was used to decimating his opponents. He loved the pure rush of adrenaline he got from fighting. But this was the farthest thing from "thrill" he'd had in a long time, and it was seriously infuriating him.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A wave of intense heat drew the dark-haired teen out of his angered daze. Looking up, golden eyes widened in shock as he saw a column of fire coming directly at him. In a split second, Vanitas rolled out of the way. The fire rushed by, burning through another cluster of Naked Mummy wizards. The Keyblade wielder jumped up to his feet and leveled a gaze so scorching that it gave that last attack a good run for its money in terms of heat.
"Oi, watch where you're aiming, Pinky!"
Natsu twitched, effortlessly punching a Mummy wizard as he glared at Vanitas. "Then stay out of my way, Tar face!"
"Could you both cut it out?!" Salem snapped, flinging a couple of explosive knives out and watching the enemies flee in terror. "Fight the Mummies, not each other!"
"Shut up, Alexsm!"
"You want a piece of me, Playboy?!"
Tegan sighed as she dodged another swing from the Naked Mummy wizard she was engaged in a battle with. If Natsu and Vanitas were going to keep doing this sort of thing, she was either going to have to smack them around a couple times or see if Salem knew a spell to put them on mute. Seriously, she forgot what it was like to be surrounded by a bunch of hotheaded boys. The dark-haired Keyblade wielder and the pink-haired Dragon Slayer just couldn't stop digging into each other, no matter what anyone else tried. It was astounding! She'd never seen a better case of two people constantly fighting like cats and dogs.
"Yer gunna get smashed, girlie!"
Tegan found herself face-to-face with another Dark wizard, possibly one of the biggest she'd faced so far. Grinning with a mouth full of dirty, rotting teeth, he hefted a giant club off of his shoulder. Metal bubbled around the surface of the weapon, forming three-inch long serrated spikes. Tegan scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Not bluidy likely, ya dickheed…"
One of her chains appeared behind her as Tegan spread her feet apart, sinking into a low boxing stance. The chain flickered, transitioning into a corporeal state as it twisted itself together into a tight knot. Tegan frowned and sucked in a quick breath. As the Dark wizard swung his club towards her, she threw her dominant hand out, fingers clutched into a tight fist. Her chain uncoiled and sprung out, like a Jack-in-the-box toy. The end of the metal coil collided with the center of the wizard's chest and sent him flying back with enough force to send the guy crashing through a couple of trees.
Tegan, understandably, was shocked.
Her chains never ceased to amaze her. She still had no idea what exactly they were or why she was able to use them, but the redhead couldn't deny that they were pretty handy. And slowly but surely, she was starting to get the hang of controlling them. Before, she couldn't get them to turn solid, or even twist them into different shapes. But the more Tegan practiced and fought with them, the more things she discovered she could do with them. She'd even increased the amount of time she could keep them out to over fifteen minutes!
Practice makes perfect, I guess.
"Hey, Redhead!" Tegan turned around to see Gray (shirtless once again) run up behind her. The smirking grin on his face made her pause.
"What's up?"
"Salem and I thought of an idea to take all of these guys out at once. Can you give me a lift?"
The Ice wizard jerked his head slightly towards the right. Following his line of sight, Tegan spotted a familiar, sweatshirted Nobody lurking up in the shadows of some tall tree branches. Held tightly in his hands were Salem's two scimitar weapons. Judging from the devilish smirk plastered on the teen's face, Salem had some sort of plan turning the gears inside his head. Tegan nodded.
"Tell me what you need, Gray."
The wizard made short work of explaining the plan. Before long, Tegan was getting ready to put the two Ice-magic based mages' plan in action. Good thing, too.
So far, she and her friends had managed to make a good-sized dent in the Naked Mummy guild's wizard, but it seemed like the enemies just kept coming. Tegan didn't know about Natsu and Gray, but she was positive that she couldn't keep going like this forever. Vanitas and Salem certainly couldn't. The last thing she wanted was to get worn down before they found Jade, Wendy, and Happy.
Gray or Salem must have clued Vanitas and Natsu in on the plan. As much as the two teens rubbed each other the wrong way, they worked together just well enough to keep Naked Mummy wizards off of Tegan's tail while she focused on summoning as many solid chains as she could. The idea was to make one, giant coiled spring. Once she was sure that she got it right, the teenaged Anima gave Gray the signal.
Plowing through enemies, the Ice wizard leapt on top of the "spring" and placed a closed fist against the palm of his other hand. Misty water vapor and sparkling fragments of ice formed in the air around Gray's fingers.
"Hope you know what you're doing!" Tegan shouted.
"Heh, this is no problem," Gray bragged. "Just be ready to go when I tell you!"
She had to brace her legs as she tried to keep her chains under precise control. Keeping track of so many chains wound up tight together was hard enough by itself. But keeping them in place with Gray's added weight made things more difficult. It kind of felt like she was pushing against a boulder and Tegan had to struggle to build up the power she needed. Her arms ached and so did her back. She even felt her energy drain faster than before.
I can do this. Gray's not that heavy at all. Breathe in…Breathe out…
"Now!"
Concentrating her energy, Tegan pushed her feet off the ground. A fist lifted high in the air as she focused her remaining energy out and up. The chains uncoiled, shooting Gray higher into the air. The resulting explosion of energy was enough to knock lots of the surrounding people over, Tegan included. Luckily, Vanitas and Natsu were there to grab her arms and drag her away to safety while Gray and Salem left to do their own thing.
"Ice Make: Lance!"
As he was thrown up in the air, Gray twisted around so that he faced the ground. The cold water vapor and ice fragments exploded into long, curved "lances" that penetrated the rocky soil randomly on impact. The towering structures all connected at the top, forming an enormous structure made entirely of thick ice. It covered the entire grove where the fight had been taking place, just barely stopping at the tree line.
As Gray's momentum started to run out and he reached the top of his arc, Salem leapt from his hiding spot in the trees. The Nobody grabbed the back of Gray's pants, throwing the other teen back into the trees while hurling himself forward. A wild grin stretched out over his face as he spun his scimitars around in the air.
"I think it's about time that you guys chilled out!"
Pulling his weapons together, Salem let loose a booming shout as he dropped down on top of Gray's ice. The blades sunk deep into the frozen water, but it didn't shatter. Tegan thought it strange, until she caught the look on her friend's face and the faint glow that surrounded him.
"Frozen Despair!"
Salem's spell made sheets of ice spread out over the frame Gray had created using his own magic. The entire thing froze solid in the blink of an eye, trapping the Naked Mummy wizards. The whole thing barely lasted a minute, but it was a genius plan. Without hardly any effort, Salem and Gray had effectively made a giant, frozen cage.
Tegan whooped as she, Carla, and the other boys came out of hiding. "Now that's how you build a better mousetrap! Way to go, Salem and Gray!"
The aforementioned teens beamed, smug grins stretching out across their face.
"No sweat," Gray responded. "All according to plan."
Salem tugged his sweatshirt back into place. "What can I say? When someone tries to kill me with something, I make sure that I master it so it doesn't happen again."
Vanitas scoffed. Of course, the blockhead was still festering over that little misadventure.
"For crying out loud, that happened more than two years ago," he grumbled. "Get over it already! And Gray…Go find your damn pants and keep them on, will you?!"
"Seriously, again?!"
While Gray went off to look for his clothes, Carla and Tegan went up to examine the wood's new ice feature. It was surreal, fascinating, and a little bit disturbing. The Naked Mummy wizards weren't just trapped inside the ice. They were literally frozen inside of it. Some were suspended up in the air, but all of them were stuck in place. Tegan had seen images similar to this in history textbooks, but to this scale…?
Carla huffed as she poked at a piece of ice. "Rather overkill, isn't it?"
A sheepish laugh bubbled out of Tegan. "Guess so, huh? Kinda reminds me of one of those gross gelatin molds…"
"Well, as long as it takes care of these cretins, I suppose it's alright."
Tegan chuckled as she picked the fussy feline up and set her on her shoulder. Carla did have a point. That was one less Dark wizard guild to deal with on the way to find the Oracion Seis. And hopefully, they were one step closer to rescuing their friends.
"Oi! Stupid icicles!"
Tegan and Carla turned around to see Natsu with Gray and Salem caught in twin headlocks. The Dragon Slayer was seething, smoke practically pouring out of his ears.
"I was gonna ask those guys where the Oracion Seis guys were!"
Gray rammed his elbow into his guild mate's stomach and ended up stumbling into Salem. "Let me go, Charcoal breath!"
"Uh…g-guys?" Salem's eyes popped open wide as he tried to regain his footing. "Um, can't really breathe here…Let go, please!"
As the three teens struggled with each other, Tegan noticed something strange. From what she'd seen, Salem had a tendency to overuse his teleportation spell. Whether it was getting himself out of a tight pinch or just to move from one place to another with as little effort as possible, he loved the opportunity the spell gave him to warp around. She figured escaping Natsu's grip would be one of those instances, but for some reason, Salem wasn't teleporting.
The mage was struggling, but it didn't look like escape was his main focus. He was distracted by something else. His face was a couple shades paler than usual and scrunched up. Both eyes were closed shut as his mouth twisted into a grimace. Tegan leaned forward just a little and noticed a faint sheen of sweat forming on his skin. He looked like he was in pain.
"Um…Salem?...Salem!" Her voice rose to a panicked shout. "Natsu, let him go!"
The Fire wizard turned to face her, looking genuinely confused. So he didn't see it coming when Vanitas rushed up to their side. One hand grabbed Salem's arm while the other fisted itself in Natsu's scarf. Vanitas gave the two a sharp tug and yanked the boys apart. Natsu and Gray stumbled to the ground with a pair of shouts. Salem dropped down to his knees and would have fallen flat on his face if not for Vanitas' firm grip on his shoulder.
"Salem, snap out of it!" Vanitas shook the Nobody's shoulder as his voice rose slightly with concern. "Salem, let it go!"
But Salem didn't seem to hear him. As everyone gathered around the two boys, they could hear the Nobody muttering under his breath, voice hoarse as it came out in between harsh gasps. He spoke in a language Tegan had never heard before, so she had no idea what he was saying. Both hands pressed down against the sides of his head, nails digging into his skin.
Tegan frowned and lurched back. A strange, faint aura was forming around Salem. It was dark and murky and filled the girl with dread for reasons she couldn't fathom. She thought back to their adventure in Wonderland, when she saw an aura form around Alice.
But Alice's case didn't make her this anxious. Something was wrong.
"Vanitas, what's wrong with him?!" Tegan knelt down on the other side of her friend and felt her throat close up for a second.
Just barely hidden by the hood of his sweatshirt, the skin around his neck was a bruised, ugly purple and black. She yanked the fabric down out of the way and swallowed the rapidly forming lump in her throat. The veins on his neck were sticking up against his skin, but Tegan couldn't tell if this was a result of the strange discoloration, or from how Salem kept straining his own body.
But this was near where he'd taken in some of Erza's poison!
"Salem!"
"SNAP OUT OF IT, SALEM!"
Slap!
Salem fell backward as his head twisted to the side. Tegan yelped, hands flying to cover her mouth, as she gaped at Vanitas.
The Keyblade wielder, hand still raised from the resounding slap he gave Salem, panted harshly. His eyes were so wide that Tegan could see the whites all around his golden irises. But the emotion she saw in them was so uncharacteristic of the sour, arrogant teen that she couldn't keep herself from staring.
Vanitas looked concerned and worried, almost downright scared.
"You…You bastard!" Natsu roared and grabbed Vanitas up by the collar. "What did you do that for, huh?!"
Natsu gave the teen a quick shake, bashing his forehead against Vanitas'. The golden-eyed teen responded with a growl and moved to strike back. His other hands gripped the Fairy Tail wizard's wrist, squeezing it to the point where Tegan was afraid the bones would snap.
She stepped in and tried to wedge herself in between the two boys.
"Seriously, cut it out, you two!"
A low, pained groan interrupted the feuding teens before either of them could come to blows. Following a shocked exclamation from Carla, they all whirled around. Salem had rolled onto his side, nursing his cheek and muttering vehemently.
"Ow, ow, ow!" he groaned. "Who the hell slugged me? So not cool, dude!"
"Salem!" Tegan disengaged from Natsu and Vanitas and bolted over to help the teenaged mage to his feet. Salem kept a hand plastered to his cheek—where a bright red, hand-shaped mark stood out on his skin—and pouted. He then proceeded to grumble about how people shouldn't go around slapping people and other unintelligible babble. Tegan slumped over and sighed in relief.
If Salem could ramble, he was alright.
"What in the world just happened?!" Carla exclaimed. The small cat activated her flight spell and flew up in Salem's face.
"Right," Tegan stared at him. Had the poison he'd taken from Erza caused him to go crazy like that? "Salem, what just happened?"
The young sorcerer-in-training shifted from foot to foot anxiously. Tegan continued to stare at him, watching as he fumbled with the end of his braid.
"I…uh…Well, you see…"
Salem got interrupted before he could explain anything. Having obviously ditched Natsu, Vanitas stormed up and snagged the back of Salem's hood. The dark-haired teen matched grumbles with Salem's complaints at being manhandled as he dragged the other teen off into the trees. Tegan and the others followed, not quite sure about what was going to happen next. Leaving the frozen Naked Mummy wizards behind (they'd thaw out…eventually), the small group followed Vanitas until he came to a rather large, overgrown tree with lots of roots sticking out of the ground. He slung Salem onto one of the roots and glared down at him.
"What the hell were you thinking, you damn moron?!" he shouted. "If absorbing that chick's poison was going to affect your powers, you shouldn't have done it! Are you that frickin' stupid?!"
Salem stiffened indignantly and pulled himself back up. "Hold on, Vanitas. How was I supposed to expect this?! You know I hate it when that shit happens, but do you honestly think I'd just let somebody suffer when I had a way to help them?!"
Salem was ticked. He'd been poisoned before and it never affected his control over his Nobody powers. There was no way he could have expected Cobra's poison to have this kind of effect on him, especially in a lower dose. And even if he did, there was no chance that he would let it get in the way of helping Erza. The girl had been about to cut her own arm off in front of everyone for crying out loud! Salem would sooner do that to himself then let anyone, let alone a lady, go through with that kind of suffering! Vanitas knew that!
No, he was not going to let Vanitas rag on him for this. What he did may have been a little stupid, but he didn't regret it!
"That was no big deal," he argued. "You know I've bounced back from worse. It was nothing, Vanitas. I'm fine!"
But Vanitas didn't seem ready to back down. "Newsflash, Alexsm, that little stunt back there was far from 'nothing'. What good are you if you end up overloading and having a full-on breakdown on us? What then, huh?"
The Nobody scoffed and planted his fists on his hips. As if that would happen. He would never let that happen. "I've never gotten that far, Vanitas, and you know it. As long as I can help, I'm going to. I don't recall ever needing your permission!"
"Oh, right, because poisoning yourself is just so helpful! Get real and get over this death wish you've got, you stupid Nobody! Keep pulling all of this crap and you're just going to fade!" Vanitas thrust himself forward so he was nose-to-nose with Salem. His golden eyes were molten with rage as they met Salem's icy dark blue ones. "Get this through your thick, nonexistent skull. You. Can't. Help. Everyone!"
"You…You bastard! Go to hell, Vanitas!" Furious, Salem impulsively took a wild swing at his friend.
Vanitas sidestepped it and glared back. "I guess I'm already there if I have to watch out for your dumb ass! The last thing I need is some blockhead Nobody hell-bent on taking himself out."
Salem gritted his teeth and swore he was seeing red. Who the hell did Vanitas think he was? So what if he was poisoned. So what if his powers were fluctuating because of it? That didn't mean he did not have a death wish!
Rage built up inside him until it came to a boiling point. He wasn't a child. He could take care of himself. Vanitas had no right to be pulling this kind of crap.
Talking to me like I'm some kid…Give me a break!
"At least if I go out, I'll do it and make a difference!"
"You inconsiderate…What about the rest of us?! If you die, where is that going to leave us, you—!"
Vanitas lifted his arm and his fingers drew into a fist so tight that the skin there bleached white. Salem braced himself, expecting for Vanitas to throw a punch. In return, Salem mimicked the gesture, ready to respond in kind.
"Okay, enough!"
Before either Salem or Vanitas could react, a pair of hands latched onto the backs of their heads. In one fluid motion, Tegan (who interrupted them just in time to keep both teens from coming to blows) knocked their foreheads together. A resounding "thunk!" sound mixed with startled yelps as Salem and Vanitas plummeted towards the ground.
"Ow!" the shouted. "What the hell, Tegan?!"
The redhead stood over them with the fiercest glare either had ever seen from her. Feet spread apart, fists digging into her hips, Tegan looked ready to kick their asses as her violet eyes burned into them.
"We don't have time for this," she shouted. "Have you forgotten that one of our friends have been kidnapped and that a woman's life is hanging in the balance?! You both are acting like idiots, so cut it out before I thrash both of you!"
Tegan's loud shouting snapped some sense back into Salem, cutting through the angry haze that clouded his mind. Tegan was right, of course. Jade, Wendy, and Happy were still out there somewhere in the forest at the mercy of the Organization and the Oracion Seis. Without Wendy, Erza could very well die from the snake venom coursing around in her bloodstream. And while Jade might know what's going on with the Oracion Seis, she had no idea what the Organization was truly capable of.
And yet here he was, wasting time with pointless arguing. He wasn't even really sure why he was that angry!
Tegan closed her eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. After waiting a few seconds, she seemed visibly calmer.
"Look, I think we're all a little stressed out over everything that's happened. But we can't let it get to our heads, right? Our friends need us to come find them, and if we start fighting among ourselves, we're just making ourselves weaker." She crouched down and shifted her gaze between Salem and Vanitas.
"Seriously, you two," she mediated. "You're, like, best friends, aren't you? Salem, you know we're all just worried about you. We don't want you getting hurt, and we definitely don't want you to fade away. I get that you want to help people, but Vanitas is right. You can't help everyone if it puts yourself in danger. You have to take care of yourself."
Salem slumped down, falling back onto the hard, rocky ground and dropping his head in his hands. Tegan was right, he supposed.
"And Vanitas," she turned a sharp stare on the other teen, who stared back defiantly. "If you're worried about Salem, there are better ways of letting him know."
The dark-haired Keyblade wielder scoffed. "Me, worried? As if I'd get worried over this idiot…"
Tegan rolled her eyes. "Lying again? Don't you ever learn?"
Salem turned and stared at Vanitas. Even without the majority of his own Anima powers, he could hear the lie in Vanitas' voice as plain as day.
"Child, what exactly was that before?"
Looking to the side, Salem found Carla standing on a tree root next to him, tail swaying back and forth as she stared at him expectantly. She crossed her little arms across the front of her dress and gave the impression of looking down her nose sternly at him. As strange as it was, the Nobody felt like he was actually getting cowed by the pint-sized feline.
Carla kept staring at him, and Salem guessed she was referring to the little episode earlier.
"Well, remember back at the villa when I was explaining to you all about Nobodies? And how the stronger ones had special abilities?"
The dress-wearing cat nodded. "I recall. You mentioned that some Nobodies like yourself can be very powerful, capable of holding onto their previously human forms as a result."
Salem nodded. Well, at least that part of his big explanation stuck. "Well, Nobodies like me are able to control an element. I got the short stick by being a Memory Nobody. I didn't realize it, but absorbing half of Erza's poison weakened me enough to mess with my grip on my powers. Natsu and Gray touched me, so I started having memory whiplash."
The female cat cocked her head to the side. "'Whiplash'? I'm afraid that I don't follow."
Salem did his best to explain the rather complicated subject. Whiplash was an unfortunate side effect of his particular type of memory-based abilities. By having direct contact with someone, a conduit formed between them that allowed Salem to see their memories. These days, he had a good grip on his powers, so Salem didn't have much trouble when he saw memories. However, his powers weren't as great as everyone thought they were. They could be downright dangerous for all parties involved.
Back when he first became a Nobody, his powers were untrained and unstable. Salem didn't know how to block out or isolate specific memories before he saw them. Therefore, he wasn't prepared for the emotional overflow that came with his powers.
Viewing a person's memories left Salem susceptible to experiencing a kind of emotional backlash. By viewing memories, one could say that Salem placed himself right in the middle of them, from the owner's point of view. As a result, he experienced all of the emotions that were tied to any given memory he saw.
Anger, pain, sadness. Salem experienced all of it as if the memories and emotions were his own. It could be completely overwhelming if the memories got out of control. Feeling those kinds of emotions were painful. And if he was experiencing multiple memories at once, it was even worse.
Most people didn't realize it, but having a person's stream of memories going through their head could be extremely painful. The memories forced themselves through his brain, dragging with them all of their collective emotions—the good and the bad. Too many memories at one time could cause Salem's mind to get overloaded, which put a heavy strain on his body as well. The level of pain was indescribable, but deadly. There had been only a few times when this sort of thing happened, and every time had been an occasion where Salem nearly faded as a result.
It why, he supposed, Vanitas had freaked out. Salem didn't have Yen Sid's charm anymore. He'd been so stupid to throw that thing away back in Emily and Victor's world. And now that he didn't have anything to suppress his powers, they would be unstable until they cured Erza.
If Salem wasn't careful, he might actually regret it. Vanitas was right. He really could end up fading away if he didn't watch his back. And Salem couldn't let the happen. Not when he had friends waiting for him, things to get back, and his promise to Angelique…
A pair of sandaled feet walked up into Salem's line of sight. Looking up, he locked eyes with Natsu. The Fire wizard next to her tugged at the scarf around his neck. Salem flinched, recalling the shocking memories that had passed through his mind earlier. It was a miracle that, given what exactly Salem saw, the Dragon Slayer's memories hadn't killed him on the spot.
You people are in for one huge shock once those memories come to the surface…
"Er…Sorry that my, uh, memories messed you up," the wizard mumbled. "But Tegan's right. Nakama's supposed to help each other, not keep secrets."
Tegan reached down and grabbed his sleeve, pulling Salem up to his feet. Next to him, Vanitas hadn't moved from his spot. He just sat there, pouting and rubbing his fingers against the spot where Tegan knocked their foreheads together. Salem frowned.
As much as he hated to admit it, Vanitas did have a point. He didn't regret absorbing some of the venom from Erza (after all, it kept someone like Lyon from trying to hack the girl's arm off), but he should have at least thought of the consequences.
He had some apologizing to do. They were supposed to have each other's backs, after all, not fighting like a couple of petulant kids. That wasn't like them. Sure, they messed with each other all the time, but they'd gotten past being jerks to each other a long time ago.
"Hey, uh, Vanni-boy…"
A pair of yellow eyes glared up at him as Vanitas sulked. Salem sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"…Uh…S-Sorry, dude…I shouldn't have gotten so riled up…"
"…Right about that," he grumbled. Tegan cleared her throat and nudged him in the ribs with her boot. The two exchanged a pair of glares before Vanitas pushed himself up. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he stared fixedly on the ground.
"I…guess I overreacted," he admitted in a begrudging mumble.
A small, relieved smile wormed its way into the Nobody's face. "We cool then?"
Vanitas looked up and studied Salem for a few more moments before he formulated an answer. Turning on his heel, he started stalking off in a random direction, heading deeper into the forest. Salem stared after him, open-mouthed.
"Just keep this crap to a minimum from now on," the black-haired teen called over his shoulder. "Next time, Freckles isn't going to be able to stop me from slugging the daylights out of you…Salem."
Salem grinned and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Vanni-boy. I hear and obey."
As Salem raced off after Vanitas, Tegan let loose the breath she'd been holding in.
"Crisis adverted, huh?"
Tegan glanced out of the corner of her eye at Gray. "You could say that, I guess."
The Ice wizard rolled his shoulders and started walking casually after Vanitas and Salem. Natsu and Carla followed suit, leaving Tegan alone by herself.
Crisis, indeed. Thank goodness that the fight resolved quickly. The last thing they needed at a time like this was two of their stronger fighters feuding with each other. Not when so much was riding on everyone cooperating with each other.
For a second there, Tegan had been worried that the two were going to say something they'd regret. Salem typically had a good handle on his temper, but the same couldn't really be said for Vanitas.
Tegan shivered, recalling the looks on both boys as they started getting angrier and angrier. They looked about ready to kill each other. There had been something…unnatural about it. She could understand that Vanitas and Salem were wound up a little too tight. Stress and worry tended to do that. But to see that kind of blood boiling anger over some petty insults? It wasn't really Vanitas, and it sure wasn't like Salem. Something struck her as definitively wrong about them getting so angry so quickly.
"I've got such a weird feeling about all of this," she muttered, hurrying after her friends before she got left behind.
L&DH: Ah, much better. Toned down drama, but just enough for the tension I was going for. Now, onto the fun stuff!
Tegan: Meaning, we'll find Jade and the others, right?
Salem: And kick some butt?
L&DH: You bet!
Reviews!
*Luna Lillyth: Dante is kind of prideful. As the youngest member of the Organization, he feels that he has to prove himself to the others. But he is only twelve, and some boys start to get cocky at that age. And since he likes winning, it doesn't feel like a win for him unless he knows that he completely dominated his opponent. He's a complicated little brat, ain't he? Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy the new chapter!
*Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: Thanks so much! I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed the chapter so much, I had a lot of fun writing it. Writing that scene between Wendy and Dante was something I really wanted to get right, because I wanted to show a bit of how Dante's mind works, so I'm glad that you liked it! And be prepared. Angie's not the only one who's going to have a feels moment in this world. XD Thanks for reviewing and I hope that you enjoy the update!
*bubblegum bxtch: I'm glad to hear that. And I'm excited for the fluff too. XD As for Angie and Dante, well...It's complicated. Family means everything to Angie, so she loves her little brother a lot, no matter what he does. And for Dante, just keep in mind that not everything is as it seems with this kid. Everything he does has an ulterior motive and there is a good reason as to why he acts like this. But to answer your question, Dante knows the using Nightmare magic will turn him into a Nightmare, but it's kind of hard to tell what goes on inside his head. Thanks for reviewing! Hope you like the new chapter! ^^
BYE!